Avgeekery Exclusive: Meet The Team Working To Make A Plane Made Out Of Hemp

There are carbon fiber planes and fabric wings… Why not hemp?

We recently interviewed Derek Kesek who founded Hempearth Company. He and his team have embarked on a project to build the world’s first hemp powered plane. Plus, he even wants it powered by hemp-based fuel. It’s an ambitious plan. Here’s Derek’s story:

1.) Tell me about your company and your background.

Well we started the company in 2012, and have had a lot of amazing transformation. We have quickly become the Coke, Virgin, Microsoft, Tesla, Apple Of Hemp. We decided back when we saw an amazing opportunity to really give back as a company by working with Hemp first and foremost but Cannabis as well.

The plant is truly amazing and really is helping mankind a lot as it can clean our soil, air and water through a process calledPhytoremediation is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater. Hemp can create over 25,000 different products from oils, food, airplanes, aircrafts, fuel, fiber, homes and much more. We just finished producing and announcing publicly that we have produced the world’s first Hemp building blocks similiar to LEGO. We have The Wright Brother’s involved with our plane project, The Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet and it so exciting to see this take off like it has.

2.) Like all interviews, we have to ask…what makes you an Avgeek?

I just am in love with aircraft and all things flight. I believe in true love and true love is freedom like a bird, so I just enjoy everything about this amazing technology. My son Griffin and I at one point were going to down to our local aircraft museum and using the flight simulators and such. What we have created with this company and what others are doing is truly manifesting what they really want and this is good for the earth and good for all of humanity, each and everyone one of us and that is what we are all about, at one point about 5 years ago, I had met Romio Shrestha, an amazing World class Thangka painter and enlightened human being, whom is also friends with Deepak Chopra and the Dalia Lama, and what Romio taught me was about love and compassion and to do things for every single person on the planet and the doors of abundance opened up and here we are today with this amazing company, doing innovative and cool new things. Also I am a big fan and supporter of Richard Branson, Elon Musk. Both have been super inspirational to me and have allowed me to become a great business leader in this all new amazing industry.

3.) Using hemp for construction and as a fuel source is really unique. Why hemp? What was your inspiration to start this project?

Hemp has 10 times the impact strength as steel, 5x times more than Kevlar and it is a biodegradable plant, we are also using bio resins on some of our products now. For the first line of planes we are sticking with normal resin’s as we dont want to move to fast with that. Our first plane however will be made almost entirely from Hemp, which is including the wings, seats, pillows, outer shell and much more. We are working with some amazing 3D hemp companies that will also produce some inside plane parts as well. Our first crafts will also have the ability to fly on Hemp fuel which we have successfully tested in Costa Rica. We are still developing the fuel for the engines but we are not far off to have our first aircrafts to be flying through the air on Hemp.

5.) Even though hemp products have become more common, many people are still skeptical of hemp and equate it to marijuana culture. Do you ever run into people who question your company’s true intentions?

No one does this anymore, “your vibe attracts your tribe” and we really have an amazing thing here. We are truly grateful and humbled and we thank everyone that has supported what we have done so far and we also look forward to seeing everyone’s names on the plane when our first prototype is ready. We have kept everyone’s names that have supported so far (via Kickstarter). This will be an iconic day in human history when we launch plane from The Wright Brother’s Memorial in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina then over to India to launch hopefully from Bhuntar airport. They have expressed interest in what we are doing. We really support Hemp growth in India and are working with some amazing people in the country as well as Costa Rica, Canada, Australia, Europe and world wide.

6.) Tell us a more about the hemp plane. What’s the timeline for this aircraft and the fuel that powers it?

Well a lot goes into building a craft like no one has ever done before. The main thing was to get a manufacturing contract in place. We did that after they did all the testing, and now we are in the process of finding the perfect weave that will replace most of the old fiberglass materials. What I have learned is everything happens at the perfect time. Richard Branson, is an amazing man and it took in quite a few years to get his spaceship up in the air…but he did. This is a less complicated than a spaceship so it will take much less time. But you can imagine this is a big undertaking and I am putting my heart and soul into this project.

7.) Can you talk to us about the size of your proposed plane?

It’s a 4 seater aircraft, two engine aircraft with a wingspan of 36 feet. It’ll be able to travel at over 250mph.

8.) Can you talk about the estimated cost of your project?

It’ll cost about $375,000, but we can start building for around 125,000. We have been approached by many investors but we have not found the right ones to work with as of yet. We’re getting closer though. I am off to a Cannabis Conference next week actually called EXPOMED in Costa Rica. Super Exciting things…I am visiting my girlfriend down in Costa Rica and getting her involved in the industry here until we can successfully do integral business in the country. We have been just testing things and and no money has been exchanged as of yet. We are just working with good honest people that want to see this succeed. It is super exciting.

9.) Let’s say your plane is successful. What’s your long term hope for the impact of your hemp plane project?

We want to create awareness for all industry that Hemp can make anything and is eco, green and sustainable. Also, we are doing the project for the impact it will have to our brand Hempearth. We also want to encourage the aviation and aircraft industry to use hemp and hemp fuel. We will be hosting an amazing EXPO next year in Toronto, Ontario and are super excited about the impact the brand is having and the amount of awareness and education we have had the ability to create. Thanks to the people and humanity for that.